November 24th, 2013

Tutorial: The 1 Minute Princess Bun

It’s easy and requires no tools, pins, heat styling, or hairspray. You’re welcome.

This is the simplest, quickest updo hairstyle in existence.  All you’ll need is your hair, a few fingers, and a thin elastic headband. Yup, you don’t even need a brush.

Perfect for bad hair days or when you need to look polished in a jiffy. Intrigued? Read on to find out how to pull off this look.

Start by parting your hair. I part my hair on the side, but this updo can be done just as easily with a middle parting.

This works especially well with hair that’s a tad bit dirty, because super clean hair is difficult to style. I like to massage a little dry shampoo into my scalp first, because it’ll make your roots look clean and give you a boost of volume.

Place your headband on your head, overtop of all your hair.

You can find these types of decorative elastic headbands all over the place for cheap. I got my beaded pearlescent one from Forever 21 for a couple of dollars.

Take a section of hair from either side of your parting and lift it over the headband, tucking it underneath.

Don’t worry if it’s not perfect at this stage, we can adjust it later. Just make sure it’s secured under the headband.

Take the next sections of hair beneath the first, on either side of your head, and repeat.

Continue doing this all the way down to your ears, lifting and tucking.

This is approximately what you should have once you’ve done that.

Keep taking sections of hair down the sides of your head (below your ear) and tuck them into your headband…

…until you reach this stage.

Now collect all your hair in your hands…

…lift it upwards, twisting it slightly to keep it together…

…and roll it inwards.

Tuck that hair log into the bottom of the headband.

Once it’s secured, use your fingers to even out the shape a bit.

This is the stage at which you can adjust everything to make it look neater. If you have any parts that are sticking out more than the rest, tuck them in tighter. Slightly loosen any sections you want more voluminous. All done!

If you need this hairstyle to last all night, or if your hair is prone to slipping back to its natural state, you can stick a few bobby pins in there discreetly and spray everything down just to give you some extra hold. (I don’t, though – it lasts just fine without them for me.)

Wasn’t that easy?

Here’s what it looks like from the front. Chic, classy, and fit for the princess in you, whether you’re going to a ball or just dinner.

I think the best hairstyles are ones that look fancy and impossibly complicated, but which are actually stupidly simple to do at home.

Let me know if you found this helpful, and if you’re going to give this style a try! x

5 comments

  • Pingback: A 1920s Gatsby Christmas Party • Sara du Jour()

  • Olivia

    Okay, so I know this was almost ten years ago, but… how are you able to get the headband to stay on your head? Do I just have a weird -shaped head? I have the same headband, but it just wants to slip upwards and off, despite plenty of dry shampoo/second day hair. I’m fairly beauty-illiterate, so I’m wondering if there’s something I’m missing here, or if maybe it’s because my hair is very long (down to my waist). I come back to this page every couple of years to see if I can make it work, but the slippage is always impossible.

    • Omg, first of all hi – this is a blast from the past lmao. Maybe my head is slightly bigger or smaller than yours and it keeps the headband on easier? But also the rolling of the hair into the headband should be the thing preventing it from sliding off. And if that’s not enough, shove a bunch of bobby pins in there. I hope that works!! Thanks for reading and commenting. :)

      • Olivia

        I will give that a shot! Dang girl, thanks for the lightning quick response :)

  • Evie

    Hello Sara! I know it’s been very long since you posted this, but I was wondering if you had any recommendations for the headband with elastic that you used? I am planning on trying this hairstyle for a regency ball, and have been having a strangely difficult time finding a headband like the one you used. Thank you for any help you can give!